Participating students selected poems to recite, and a panel judges evaluated the entrants’ performances. Scores were based on physical presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, level of complexity, evidence of understanding and overall performance.

Kennedy’s Olivia Schmidt took home first place; Amanda Aronoff, second place; and Nicole Homburger, third place.

Schmidt and Aronoff were to compete at the Long Island finals at Stony Brook University on Feb. 3 Regional winners will move on to the state level on March 4. The program will culminate with a national competition in Washington, D.C., in the spring.